Just The Five Of Us
by magic cheese
Summary: Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Peyton are kidnapped and dumped in the middle of nowhere. What will happen? Find out here.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing besides a few made-up characters in this story and my shiny pennies.

**Summary:** Nathan, Lucas, Haley, Brooke and Peyton have been kidnapped. Now, they must try to survive in a new environment and find a way to catch their kidnapper and return to Tree Hill.

**Chapter One: Anywhere But Here**

A door slammed in the distance. A young blonde awoke with a startle and an aching head. She tried to lift herself up, which was a difficult task as she felt weak and there was something that weighed about a ton on her legs. Blinded by the scorching sun, she looked around. This was odd; she seemed to be in a desert. There was sand and dirt everywhere, and a few cactuses with big, red fruits growing on them.

She quickly turned her head as she heard a car driving away, which resulted in a painful crick.

"Ow," moaned Peyton Sawyer, rubbing her neck. _Where am I?_, she wondered. Looking down, she saw a boy's head on her knees. She gasped as she realized that it was Nathan Scott, her ex-boyfriend and companion. She looked around and saw three other people, her friends Lucas Scott and Haley James, and her best friend, Brooke Davis.

Instantly, she shook Nathan off her legs, wincing as his cheek fell harshly onto the dirt ground. She tried to lift herself up, but it was too painful. She crawled over to Brooke.

"What the..." muttered Haley Scott, her eyes fluttering open. She had just felt someone's foot on her face. She turned around and saw Peyton crawling.

"Peyton?"

"Haley?"

"What's going on?" asked Haley, lifting herself up with her hands to join her friend.

"I don't know! I just woke up, and we're in a desert, which is weird because there are no deserts near Tree Hill, and I heard a car drive away, and I'm scared...and my head hurts like crap!"

"Slow down, Peyt. Let's wake everyone else up and figure out what's going on. Hopefully this is a joke, a very cruel one."

Together, they woke up their other friends, who were just as dazed and pained as they were.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" demanded Brooke Davis, after they'd established that they didn't know where the hell they were.

"Don't you think we'd all like to know that, Brooke?" snapped Nathan, sporting a large, bloody gash along his left arm.

"Shut up, Nathan. I don't have time for your sarcasm right now. I just need to find out where on God's green earth we are and get home, because I have a mani-pedi at four thirty, and Eliza won't give me a refund if I miss it."

"Aww, poor Brookie's going to miss her beauty treatment! WE'LL, I'M GOING TO MISS MY BASKETBALL GAME!" Nathan screamed angrily, kicking dirt.

"Calm down, Nathan! The last thing we need is to bite each other's heads off," advised Haley, clearly frightened by Nathan's little temper tantrum.

Brooke pushed herself up, picked some dirt clumps out of her hair, and start walking away, with a broken heel, her nose high in the air.

"OKAY!" she shouted desperately. "HAHA! VERY FUNNY JOKE! NOW LET US GO HOME!"

"No one's there," said Lucas quietly, speaking for the first time since he woke up.

"How do you know?" spat Peyton, rubbing her wrists.

"Because, we aren't in Tree Hill anymore. Hell, we aren't even on the east coast! By the looks of this desert, we're somewhere in California."

"Oh, great. My parents will be so happy to have a little family reunion with me," said Brooke sarcastically.

"Guys, guys! Stop fighting. The first thing we need to do is find out where we are and contact someone from Tree Hill." Haley said calmly.

"She's right," agreed Nathan. Haley looked at him strangely. Even though they were friends, he never spoke much to her. Seeing her expression, he quickly averted her eyes and started kicking dirt clumps again.

"Look, there's a road right there." stated Peyton. "Maybe we can stand by it and hitchhike."

"Hitchhike? Only losers do that." Nathan scoffed, earning angry looks from Lucas and Haley.

"Well then, little brother, you can find yourself another way." Lucas said briefly.

"Whatever," he murmured to himself.

They walked together to the paved road about a mile away. Brooke and Haley tried to shade themselves from the hot sun with their hair. Peyton, who had short hair, had to bring her tank top up to cover the back of her neck, and the boys were defenseless.

When they arrived, they all sat down, knowing it would be a while before anyone passed by this empty desert. About an hour after, they saw a car coming up the road. They stood up, anxiously awaiting it to arrive, and hoping that the driver would allow them to ride. They began to wave their arms until the car slowed to a stop. Lucas stepped forward to talk to the driver.

"Hello, sir. My name is Lucas...Rowe." he greeted, not wanting to release his real name. "My friends and I are lost, and we were wondering if you would be willing to give us a ride to the nearest town."

"Sure." said the driver. Lucas walked back to the rest of them.

"Okay, the driver looks pretty shady, but I'm not willing to wait for the next person." Lucas informed. All of them agreed.

Lucas stepped into the passenger seat next to the driver. Peyton entered first, next to the door on the far side, then Brooke, Nathan and Haley. They were all uncomfortable with having a driver that they didn't know or trust, and the unbearable heat and stickiness of the leather seats didn't make the ride any more pleasant.

"So, Lucas Rowe. Where are you guys all from?" questioned the driver, who sounded genuinely curious.

"California." Lucas answered, like it was obvious.

"California, eh? What are you guys doing here in Nevada, then?"

"Umm...just traveling."

The driver fell silent and concentrated on the road that lay ahead of him. Half-way along the trip, however, he began to fiddle with his rear view mirror.

"Need help with that?" asked Lucas suspiciously. The driver shook his head. Peyton, who was looking out the window at the orange cliffs and blue sky, suddenly turned back and looked at the front windshield. To her horror, she noticed that the driver had tilted his rear view mirror to get a good shot of her thighs, since she was wearing cut-off's.

"Eww!" she screamed, waking Brooke, who was sleeping on her shoulder.

"What is it?" asked Haley.

"That pervert is looking at my legs through his mirror!" she accused.

"Stop the car." Lucas said in a low, dangerous voice. When the driver wouldn't obey, Brooke started hitting the back of his head with her fist, shouting "Perv! Perv!".

The driver stopped his car abruptly and yelled at them to get out. He turned to Peyton.

"This is your last chance, baby. You either stick with these losers, or drive with me to Vegas."

"First of all, I'm not your 'baby'. Second of all, these are my friends, not losers, and I think I'd rather stay with them than with a creepy scumbag like you."

He snorted, and started his engine again. Brooke stuck her tongue at him before he speeded away. They walked together in the direction that they had been going.

"Sorry, guys." Peyton apologized.

"For what?" asked Nathan.

"For losing us our only ride into civilization."

Brooke comfortingly put her arm around her best friend's shoulders. "Don't worry, P. Sawyer. We'll find our way."

And they did. After walking about twenty minutes, they saw a sign that read "Amberley Falls—1 ½ miles".

"Looks like we've found our destination." Lucas said.

"Yeah," said Haley softly.

**A/N:** Please review and tell me what you liked or didn't like about it, and whether or not I should continue it.

Jules


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Aaaargh! I love you guys! Today when I came home from school, I had thirteen reviews for this story! That was amazing. It really did blow my mind. Never would I have thought that you guys would love this story so much! It really does want to make me write tons and tons of pages for you, that's how much they affect me. Unfortunately, I can't update every day because I have school and a social life, but I'll try to do it soon!

**chelle2911- **Hey, you're my first reviewer! Congratulations! Thank you so much! I cannot believe that I came up with such an original idea.

**TuggyAngel108- **I'm glad you loved it! Keep reading and reviewing!

**OTHFAN23V**- Yes, they are in high school. My fic is different from the show because even though they are all friends, Haley and Nathan aren't dating...yet. Teeheehee!

**starykid- **Thank you for that wonderful review! I really hope it is going somewhere. Just read this next chapter and your questions will be answered.

**CB BABE-** _I'll never tell! _Hahaha! Just read and find out...it is clearly Naley, though.

**xpeyton-sawyerx- **I loved your greeting! Cute. I'm so happy to hear you say that! I really will try to carry on with it.

**naley-obsesshunz-xOx- **I can see from your screen name that you love Naley, huh? Then this fic is for you. I'm glad you found it interesting; it's pretty rare to find any of those fics anymore. Stay cool.

**Leytonunit- **Keep reading to find out.

**Brucas4ever- **Thank you! I'm updating as quick as I can, babe.

**lilmonkeygirl31-** I love your screen name because my family used to call my little brother "monkey boy" when he was younger. Don't worry, you'll read it soon.

**brucasfanatic- **Thank you! Keep reading to find out!

**softballeva- **Stick around to find out more! Thanks!

**mary-023- **You're really nice! Thank you!

**Chapter Two: Welcome to Hell**

"I'm hungry," pouted Brooke, as they reached Amberley Falls. She rubbed her stomach as it growled.

"When was the last time you ate?" asked Haley concernedly.

"Hmm...I don't remember."

"Well, hang on, Brooke. We're almost there, and there's probably some nice people who'll give us something to eat." Lucas consoled. Brooke aimed a dimpled smile at him, and he looked away, blushing.

"Oh, crap!" cried Peyton, slowing down. They all turned around and stopped.

"What is it?" asked Nathan.

"My sandal. The strap broke! I guess I'll have to go barefoot."

"No, Peyt! There are rocks and glass on the floor. C'mon, climb on my back." said Brooke, rushing towards Peyton. Peyton stared at her and laughed.

"We haven't done piggy back rides since we were in junior high, Brooke!"

"Oh, I don't mind. It's not like you weigh anything; you're skinny as a twig."

After Peyton mounted her best friend's back, they turned back around and started walking towards a street. It was already dusk and getting pretty cold.

"Look. This shop's open." Haley said, pointing to a rundown store that read "Mama Lucinda's Gun Shop". They all walked in hesitantly. Walking towards what looked like the front desk, Haley amused herself with a little ringing bell.

"What do ya want?" asked a rough, female voice, coming out from the back of the store. She was old and looked mean. Her gray hair was unkempt, and she wore a faded blue dress and a dirty apron.

"M-my name's Haley James, and I—"

"No solicitors! Read the sign on the front door."

"No, ma'am, we're not solicitors," explained Haley, who had a fearful expression on her face. "My friends and I, we think we were kidnapped—"

"Think you were kidnapped? You're either kidnapped or you aren't, no thinking to it!"

"Well, the thing is, we awoke in the desert back there, and we're from North Carolina, so—"

"I don't have time for this, girl! Either spit it out or move!"

Haley, giving up, walked back to the group and pushed Brooke forward, as if giving the duty to her. Brooke gave Haley an incredulous expression, and then smoothly turned forward to deal with the woman.

"Listen, ma'am, I'm don't have time for this either. I'm lost, I'm hungry, I missed my appointment at the beauty salon, and frankly, I just want to go home and take a bath! So this will go a lot quicker if you just shut your mouth and listen to me!"

The woman looked slightly shocked at Brooke's little monologue and didn't protest.

"My friends and I need a place to stay for the night, and some food to eat. We're in critical condition, according to General Hospital."

The woman narrowed her eyes and Brooke and gave her a long, hard stare.

"Tell it to someone who cares!" she screamed, pestering them out of her store, and then locking the door behind her.

"Bitch." Brooke said, as they were standing outside in the dark.

"Where are we going to sleep?" asked Peyton in a worried tone.

"We'll find some park benches or something."

"Hell no! I'm not Dan Scott's son for no reason. Ain't any way I'm sleeping like a hobo on some bench in this crappy town." Nathan protested.

"If I remember correctly, Lucas is Dan's son, too, and you don't see him complaining. So please stop bitching and just accept the fact that we're all lost and scared." yelled Haley. Everyone turned at her in shock. Brooke made some totally inappropriate comment, as usual, but Haley just paced ahead of them.

She didn't understand why suddenly got so defensive for Lucas, but Nathan was really getting under her skin with his little snooty comments, and she didn't appreciate it. She twisted her curly brown locks around her fingers like she always did when she was thinking. She thought she saw something good and pure in Nathan sometimes, but she really doubted it when he started acting up. Sometimes she felt oddly disappointed when she heard him bragging about how many girls he'd done it with.

"Hey," said a voice from behind her. Haley jumped about three feet.

"Brooke, don't do that to me!" she scolded, clutching her chest in fright. Brooke giggled and put her arm around Haley's shoulder.

"So talk to me, Tutor Girl. Why do you love Nathan so much?"

"W-what?" sputtered Haley. "I don't love him. Heck, I don't even like him sometimes."

"Don't lie to Brooke Davis. If there's anything I know about, it's love." Haley gave her a pointed look. "I know, hard to believe that a girl whose own parents don't care about her knows about love. But I do. What can I say? It's a gift."

Haley laughed and sighed deeply.

"I don't know, Brooke. I'm not like you; I'm not good with emotions. I've hardly even dated. I just stick to what I know, which is books and school and studying."

Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Everyone needs love, Tutor Girl. Come back to Dr. Davis when you're ready to talk." Brooke offered, patting Haley's shoulder. Then she turned back to Peyton and the guys, leaving Haley in a blurring trail of thoughts.

**A/N:** Ooh! Romance already! Review! Tell me what you like, hate, or want to be changed, and I may just oblige.

Jules


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